Spellbound

by Bear Matthew

  193

  Spellbound

  Bear Matthew

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2014 Bear Matthew

  Chapter 1-

  Two Years Ago…

  “Do you guys think anything will change in high school?” Faye Duncan asked her three best friends, Hayley Roads, Savannah Cole, and Parker Kim. She was worried of what will happen in just a matter of a few weeks. It was the summer before freshman year and it was going great for them all. Hayley sat next to Faye and laughed at her.

  “Nothing will ever change. We are all best friends and we will get through high school together.” Hayley said in one of her rare nice moments. Hayley was the leader of the pack, the “queen bee” in town. She was notorious for having it her way or no way. She is a fiery redheaded beauty, with a small frame and at average height, you would not expect Hayley to be a “monster” as everyone called her, but she was.

  Faye was grateful for Hayley’s moment. Faye Duncan was a little overweight and Hayley liked to point it out whenever Faye desperately did not want her too. Faye had tried everything to lose the weight – even going vegan – but nothing worked. She was okay with how she looked when she was alone, but when she was out of her bedroom bubble, she felt insecure. That is why she decided to spice things up last week. Faye went to the salon with her mother and asked for a completely different haircut. She normally had shoulder length dark black hair – that matched her darker skin tone. Her mother was as white as snow but her father was Native American, so Faye looked like a mix between them. However, Faye wanted a change so she told her hairdresser to surprise her, which has lead to her new bob haircut. She did not mind it – in fact, she rather liked it.

  “Faye, you’re gonna love high school, there are so many more boys there.” Savannah Cole said as she was sitting across from Faye inside the old tree house of Hayley’s twin brother in Hayley’s backyard. It was where they went to talk in secret. Savannah was the most different from everyone in the group. She loved classic movies, old rock songs, writing in her journal, and dressing unlike her three friends. She did not care what others thought of her and most of the time ignored everyone. She was the “rebel” as Hayley liked to call her. Savannah did not see it that way. She has wavy blonde hair and since summer started, she has had blue streaks in her hair. She told her Grams it was because she needed to be a “free spirit”. Grams did not by it but let her do it anyway. Savannah’s father was in the army and her mother died a few years ago from cancer. It was hard for Savannah but she got through it with her best friends.

  “It’s not like you need to be looking for a boyfriend, you already have one.” Parker Kim said to Savannah. She was right; Savannah did not need to be looking for a boyfriend, she was already dating someone great. She was dating Trey Roads; Hayley’s twin brother. It had only been a few months but Savannah was having the time of her life.

  Hayley shot Savannah a look. Hayley did not approve of Savannah dating her brother but Savannah did not care all that much. She liked Trey and Hayley was her best friend, two separate worlds. Savannah shook off the stare. Parker caught the stare and knew she stepped in it.

  Parker Kim was sitting across from Hayley and on the other side of Faye. Parker and Faye have been best friends the longest out of all of them, since they played in the “sandbox” according to their parents. Parker’s dad is the town sheriff and Parker’s mom stayed at home or goes to day parties with her friends. Parker has dark brown hair and is skinny from playing tennis nonstop. She has been playing tennis since her father gave her a racket. At first it felt like something fun to do, but then she learned just how much her father wanted her to be playing, so she grew to love it. Now she will be starting on the Charm Harbor High Tennis Team in a few weeks and she is exceptionally nervous. They are some of the best players in the state of Washington.

  “Let’s play a game,” Hayley said. They all sighed when she said it. Playing games with Hayley was always life or death. It did not matter the game, Hayley made a way for it to get personal and cause fighting between them. Hayley changed the rules to all the games and loved throwing twist at them. She was manipulative, smart, and sometimes a bitch but they all loved her anyway.

  “What type of game?” Faye asked.

  “I’m thinking dare!” Hayley said. For these four friends playing the game Truth or Dare will never be the same again. Hayley got rid of the truth part, claiming, “Nobody ever tells the truth anymore” and played dare. The rules were simple. Whoever’s turn it was, got to dare each one of them, either together or individually. The girl’s all knew that daring Hayley to do something she did not want to do would send a riffle right through them.

  “Who gets to go first?” Savannah asked Hayley.

  “I do!” Hayley said. The girls knew she would say that. Hayley liked to go first in everything.

  “What a shock” Parker said underneath her breath but loud enough for Hayley to hear her.

  Hayley just flashed them a smile and said, “I’m gonna do a group dare.” A group dare meant that everyone had to do the dare together – expect the one who challenged him or her to the dare.

  “Hayley can’t we just play a different game?” Faye asked.

  “Don’t be such a big baby!” Hayley snapped at Faye. Hayley had a dark side and it was coming out. “I dare you to go inside the Blackwell Manor,” Hayley said.

  The girls looked out the one window of the tree house and saw the Blackwell Manor. It was a few houses down from Hayley’s house and it had a horror movie feel. The Blackwell Manor was the home of the infamous Blackwell family. The Blackwell family was in the history books, just not in the normal ones. They are famous in the supernatural world. The Blackwell family was one of the first families of witches that moved to the west coast. They were not your normal witches, but dark witches with dark magic. They terrorized people, killed them, and tried to take over the country now known as America. According to legend, a powerful witch went up against them and stopped them. This witch killed them but also gave up their own life to do so. The Blackwell family was forever gone and the Manor they once called home was now empty and famous for scaring little children.

  The girl’s did not know about the true story, just the one they all heard around town. An evil old man once lived in the house and killed anybody who entered. He died but his ghost still kills whoever dares to come inside.

  The girls left the tree house and walked down to the Blackwell Manor. Faye had begged Hayley to dare them to do something else. She was terrified of the house. However, Hayley stuck to her guns.

  “Come on Hayley let’s do something else.” Savannah said.

  “We aren’t doing anything else. I called dare and you guys have to do it.” Hayley said. She was being a bitch about this.

  “Why do you have to be this way?” Savannah asked.

  “Which way is that?” Hayley wanted to know.

  “You’re being a bitch!” Parker said.

  “Ouch that hurts but it’s the game we decided to play. So, go in there get something from the second story and come out and show me.” Hayley told them.

  “Wait you didn’t say anything about getting you some souvenir from inside.” Faye said.

  “Well I did now, so go…” Hayley said.

  Faye, Savannah, and Parker all looked at each other as they slowly walked to the front porch. They each stepped onto the porch steps and with each one they went up, they all made a cracking sound. The porch and steps looked like it had been years since walked on.

  “It’s okay, we go inside and then we grab something and were out.” Parker told them.

  “This is stupid, Hayley has lost her mind.” Savannah said.

  “Yeah she has.” Faye added.

  “Let’s just g
et this over with.” Parker said. She reached for the door handle and it opened without Parker touching it. They all looked at each other. This was happening. They crept inside together. Once they got inside, Parker searched for a light switch but when she flipped it on nothing happened. “So there’s no power.”

  “What, how are we supposed to see?” Faye asked.

  They started to walk around, feeling for something. Savannah found two candles. “Here” Savannah handed one of the unlit candles to Faye and when Faye touched it, it light up. A flame just appeared, like magic. “Holy crap” Faye said in shock. Savannah was just as surprised.

  “Did you do that?” Savannah asked Faye.

  “No I didn’t do anything. It just… appeared.” Faye told her. Parker came over to them.

  “What’s up?” Parker asked.

  “The candle… it just lit up.” Savannah said.

  “Here let me see it.” Parker said. Faye handed her the candle and once Faye let go of it the flame vanished. Just like that. “Now that is freaky,” Parker admitted.

  “Let me see it again.” Faye told Parker. She grabbed the candle back and once she was the only one holding the candle the flame appeared again.

  “What is going on?” Savannah wanted to know.

  “Let’s just do this.” Parker said.

  “It’s supernatural. It has to be. You people have read all those books and watched those movies. This is how it starts.” Faye said.

  “Sure it is Faye. It’s supernatural.” Savannah said sarcastically.

  They started to head up the stairs, Faye in front, as she had the light. “I still don’t get why I had to go first.” Faye said.

  “You have the candle and it only wants to work with you. So you went first.” Parker said. They got to the top of the stairs and went onto the second floor. It had the same stair railing across the entire hall of the second floor. It was open to the first floor. Straight ahead, hanging on the ceiling above the first floor is a chandelier. On the wall is a bunch of bookshelves filled with things. Faye started to look down the long hallway.

  “It’s really creepy in here,” Faye said.

  “Let’s just pick something off of the shelf here.” Parker said. Faye went over to them and moved the light showing the shelves. Savannah reached out and picked up a large heavy book.

  “What about this?” Savannah said. Faye moved the light closer to the cover and they saw just a symbol on it. It was a triquetra. Savannah ran her fingertips over the symbol. Something about it seemed powerful to Savannah. She tried to open the book but it would not budge. “I can’t open it.” She told them.

  “Here let me see it,” Parker said. She reached for the book and touched it as Savannah was still touching it. For a split second, Parker began to see darkness. She started to feel weightless, as if she was having an out of body experience. She came back just as fast as she went. She was horrified from what she just saw. It played out like a movie clip. Once it was there, it was gone. She looked at Savannah and Faye and was speechless.

  “Are you okay?” Faye asked Parker.

  “Um… Yes” NO! Parker had just seen the future. She had just experienced a premonition. She did not know what it was but she knew what she saw. Parker had just witnessed Faye, Savannah, and herself as they died together. They were not much older than they are now. It felt so real to Parker. She could feel her future self-die. It was haunting.

  “Here let me try!” Faye set the candle down on a small table in the hallway. They scooted over to the light and Faye reached for the book. The moment all three of their hands touched it at the same time, the triquetra symbol on the cover shined. It was as if they had just turned it on. It was as bright as a light could be. Then it was gone and the book started to feel a little weird to all three of them. The book started to shake, it flipped open, and the pages inside the old book started to flip as well. It was as if they were flipping them – but they were not. The book stopped on one page and they all looked in closely.

  “Spellbound?” They all said, just as confused at each other. “What does this mean?” Savannah asked.

  “I don’t know” Parker said.

  They all started to read the entire page at the same time chanting aloud – without knowing it:

  Fire and Water, Earth and Air

  We call upon this ancient power

  Hear these words; hear our call

  Send the power and bless us be

  Spellbound the power of three

  They did not notice that they were all saying it together at the same time at first. However, once they noticed it, they could not stop. The house started to shake and once they finished they noticed a bright light behind them. They turned around and saw the chandelier light up with bright lights. Not just a normal power light but a heavenly one, they all thought. The light was so bright they should look away but they cannot. The house was still shaking like an earthquake but they did not feel it. Things were falling off shelves and wood was breaking but it did not bother them. This light enchanted them. They could feel it rushing over them.

  The light started to dwindle and then it stopped. They could suddenly feel everything going on. They noticed as the chandelier was starting to break from the ceiling and then it just SNAPPED. Before it hit the ground, they all heard one thing, a girl’s scream.

  They looked over the railing and saw Hayley lying underneath the chandelier – not moving. They all slowly let go of the book at the same time and it just fell to the floor. They all rushed down the stairs and to Hayley. They tried moving the chandelier but it was too heavy.

  “Somebody call for help!” Faye shouted. Savannah went running outside calling for help. Parker just looked at Hayley. She was not moving, blood was starting to come out of her body and Parker knew. Hayley was dead. “We have to do something!” Faye continued to shout.

  Parker just stood there, her face turning blank. One of her best friends was dead and they caused it. Savannah was running back, “How is she?”

  “She’s not moving or saying anything!” Faye cried.

  “She’s dead. Hayley is dead.” Parker bluntly said. She did not have any emotions in her face or voice. It was as if she was dying inside as well. To her it felt like she was.

  “What do we do?” Savannah asked.

  “We wait for help to come and save her.” Faye said. Savannah and Faye were crying. Parker sat down next to Hayley and grabbed her hand. She slowly started to break down.

  Hayley Roads was dead but in that same moment something was born, just nobody knew it. The universe has forever altered these three teenage girls. Their destiny awaits them and magic becomes them.

  Chapter 2-

  Two Years Later…

  “Your brother’s going to be excited to see you.” Grams said as they pulled into the driveway. Savannah Cole was back in Charm Harbor, and it felt like nothing had changed. After Hayley’s death Savannah needed a change. It was too much to be here every day with all the memories. Therefore, she had left town and moved to California to live with her father the beginning of freshman year. It was now the day before junior year and Savannah was not happy that she was back. Her father was shipping out and she needed supervised. She had begged her dad to let her stay with one of her friends on the base but he forced her to return home to Grams. However, it did not feel much like home for her anymore. She had not been back in those two years, had not seen her brother or Grams since last winter for Christmas when they visited, and she had not seen or talked to Faye or Parker since she left. Things had changed, yet stayed the same. The circle of life, thought Savannah.

  Grams parked in the driveway and turned off the car. She got out as Savannah just stared at the house she grew up in, the same house her mother grew up in, until… her death. Her mom died a year and a half before her grandpa and six months before Hayley. Savannah was not having the best luck with life. The house looked just the same, as did the town when they drove through it. The house was an older home that Grams had
to take care of all alone.

  “Well, are you coming?” Grams asked Savannah when she got out of the car. Savannah nodded. She loved this house, yet hated it at the same time. There was nothing in the town that did not remind her of her former best friend. She got out of the car and grabbed her bag from the backseat. It was the middle of the afternoon and Savannah had only just gotten back to Washington a few hours ago. Her Grams came and picked her up in Seattle – the closest airport. It was a few hours out of town and the whole drive Savannah just moped. She had left her new life back in California, her new friends, her school, her ex-boyfriend, and her dad. Her dad was all she had left of her mom – besides her grandmother and brother of course.

  Savannah looked down the street. Nothing had changed in two whole years. What was wrong with these people?, Savannah asked herself. Grams went inside the house and Savannah followed her.

  The moment Savannah went in she noticed it was as if she was brought back in time. To when her grandmother’s fresh baked cookies made the house smell so good, or when her and Hayley would play dress up, and all the girls would come over for a sleepover and those late night talks about who they were crushing on that week. Savannah began to feel her eyes water up. She quickly wiped it away – trying to be strong was easy or at least pretending to be was. She walked through the foyer and into a large open space. There was a table with fresh cut flowers, probably from Grams garden, assumed Savannah. From the table there was a perfect 360 degree of the whole house. The stairs behind her against the wall, the family room close by the front door, the living room with all the pictures in front of Savannah, the dining room to her left and the kitchen next to it. She could not see the kitchen from where she was, but she wanted too. It was her favorite place in the whole house – probably the whole world.

  She went into the kitchen and saw her Grams already starting up dinner. “How does it feel to be back?” Grams asked. Savannah just took in the whole place with one deep breath.

  “It’s weird I guess.” Savannah said. “I just pictured you changing things. I mean I pictured the whole town changing. But it didn’t, everything’s the same.”